NBC/NBCSN Draw Strong Local Audience Figures For NHL Stadium Series Games

NBC earned a 1.3 final rating and 2.1 million viewers for the Rangers-Devils NHL Coors Light Stadium Series game on Sunday from 1:27-4:30pm ET. Excluding Winter Classics and some regionalized telecasts, the game was NBC’s best audience for a single NHL regular-season telecast. Rangers-Devils delivered a 5.1 local rating in N.Y., tying the best figure in the market for any NHL game ever broadcast on NBC. Wednesday night’s Rangers-Islanders outdoor game averaged 682,000 viewers on NBCSN. The game also earned a 3.6 local rating in N.Y., marking NBCSN’s best figure on record for an NHL regular-season game in the market. Meanwhile, the Ducks-Kings outdoor game last Saturday delivered 622,000 viewers on NBCSN from 10:04pm-1:00am. The game earned a 2.4 local rating in L.A., which is the best figure on record in the market for an NHL regular-season game on NBCSN (Austin Karp, Staff Writer).

A SUCCESS, BUT DON'T OVERDO IT: The N.Y. Daily News' Pat Leonard said the Stadium Series games at Yankee Stadium were a "ringing success for the league," and NHL execs likely were not "disappointed at all how this went" with big crowds attending the games. Leonard: "That being said, the NHL is looking to downgrade to maybe four starting next season." WFAN-AM's Joe Benigno said, "Less is more. If you start to really saturate it where you've got every team maybe playing five of these games a year, then I think you start take away from what really it’s all about." The N.Y. Daily News' Frank Isola said the conept has not become oversaturated because the recent games at Dodger Stadium and Yankee Stadium were more "regional" than national games ("Daily News Live," SNY, 1/30). SNY's Chris Carlin said the Stadium Series has "been a success for the NHL," but added, "I am worried, though, that the league is going to oversaturate us with this and then ruin it." SNY's Adam Schein said this is "great buzz for hockey." Schein: "It's Super Bowl week, NBA is hot, there's baseball news and people are talking hockey. How can that be a bad thing?" ("Loud Mouths," SNY, 1/30).